International School of Arts and Sciences Dubai is a private co-educational K-12 school located in Al Warqa, Dubai, taking students from three to 18 years of age. The school was first established in September 2007 by Academia Management Solutions International.

The school follows a modified US curriculum, which has recently added elements of the Common Core Standards.

During the last 12 months the number of students enrolled at the school has increased by 12% to 912. Students come from a variety of countries including the US and Canada but the majority are Arab expatriates. Approximately one-third of the students are Emiratis. Approximately 30% of the teachers are new.

The school has a strong focus on bridging the gap between senior school and university, and that does come across from the school’s web site with a number of courses and facilities to help guide students in the correct path for higher learning. This includes a number of college preparation courses such as pre-engineering, pre-medical, pre-business and pre-ICT studies. The school also has a full-time staffed University Guidance Counseling Centre which students can utilise at their own disposal.

The school is also well resourced with 48 classrooms equipped with state-of-the-art audio visual equipment such as multimedia projectors and interactive whiteboards connected to the schools network. Successive KHDA reports note the school’s ‘outstanding’ facilities which includes four modern science laboratories, two computer laboratories, a library with a number of computers, a visual arts center and a medical clinic with a full time doctor and nurse. The school is also equipped with sporting and recreation facilities for both co and extra-curricular activities, this includes an indoor swimming pool, three indoor playgrounds, and shaded outdoors areas.

Although the KHDA 2013-2014 report identifies a number of significant key improvements by the school since its previous inspection, the KHDA’s previous ‘Acceptable’ rating remains unchanged.

The main progress noted by the KHDA since its previous inspection has been the school “proactively working on the building blocks required to achieve the vision of the school” – in a nutshell to be academic, build future leaders, to be globally aware, emphasise individuality, and to be technologically aware – more here. Subject leaders have been appointed for Maths, English and Science, and additional staff recruited for classrooms with a view to leading and coordinating development.

These improvements are slowly filtering into the standards of progress and attainment in the overall education with the most noticeable improvements being made in the KG and Elementary levels of the school which are, on the whole, rated ‘Good’. With the exception of English, Middle and High levels are deemed ‘Acceptable’ (in both progress and attainment) in all core subjects. Maths progress is rated ‘Good’ at High school level.

Similarly, the quality of teaching in the KG and Elementary levels fairs better in the KHDA’s ratings than that in the Middle and High levels. Although the teachers across the school have strong subject knowledge this seemed to result in more effective learning in the earlier years than in Middle and High school where students were expected to “receive knowledge passively” rather than be encouraged to think and learn independently.

In order to address these concerns, the quality of teaching remains an area of focus, as does making more effective use of assessments by setting individual learning targets, ensuring self-evaluation procedures include rigorous analysis and evaluation of learning data as well as improving students’ ability to learn independently by providing opportunities for critical thinking, research and enquiry.

The school is largely a “harmonious community” and students have responsible attitudes and behave appropriately. Feedback to the KHDA from parents indicated that most parents thought their children were receiving a good quality of education that was both interesting and challenging. Almost all teachers provided positive feedback on the leadership and management of the school.

Fees for International School of Arts and Sciences Dubai as of 2013-2014 range from 20,958 – 29342.